LATA MANGESHKAR

Biography : The nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, widely known as Lata didi, is a playback singer and an occasional music composer. Her singing career is the most interesting one as it spans seven decades. She has recorded thousands of songs for Hindi films, and sung songs in over 36 other languages. Lata’s father Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, a classical singer and theatre actor, trained her from the age of five. Lata started her singing career in Marathi movies and even had a small stint at acting. Music director Ghulam Haider gave her a break with the song ‘Dil mera toda’ from the movie Majboor. Her first major hit was the song ‘Aayega aanewala’ from Mahal. Thereafter, Lata went on to sing for all the top notch music directors in the industry and her songs became popular across India. With her strong classical base and her flawless Hindi and Urdu diction, she became a singing star. Amongst her many hit films are Baiju Bawra, Amar, Mother India, Barsaat, Aah, Shree 420, Madhumati, Devdas et al. She received innumerable awards, so many that she withdrew her name from film award nominations. She is also the recipient of the Bharat Ratna. Her siblings are Hridaynath, Usha and Meena Mangeshkar as well as Asha Bhosle.